KN+SAW | Katrine Naleid + Stephen Austin Welch

photo of KN by SAW

about KN+SAW

who we are:

Hi there. We are KN+SAW (Katrine Naleid and Stephen Austin Welch.)

We specialize in directing live-action lifestyle spots for creatives worldwide.

what we do:

We, KN+SAW, create and capture inspirational authentic lifestyle moments. Shooting real emotion is what we are all about. We compose footage that is fresh, whimsical and quirky. Our spots are rooted in emotional connection.

what makes us different:

We breathe life into our projects. We are naturals at collaborating with fellow creatives; but we also excel at navigating tricky clients. We know how important it is to carefully walk everyone through the creative process. This ultimately gets everybody to a place where we can make the best possible spots. This is something we have learned from our vast array of 20+ years of advertising experience. On set, we have honed our techniques to get our actors to reveal core emotions that register real on the screen. We have an approachable down-to-earth way about us that allows us to problem solve by bringing people together. Being grounded helps us creatively achieve the excellence that is everyone’s goal. We understand lighting inside and out. We also understand storytelling: when it is best to convey emotion by moving the camera and when it is best to let the camera remain static to let the scene evolve. From creative calls, to our crafted treatments and through production, you always get our honest take on the boards and a clear vision of how we see it coming together.

what we love to shoot:

We are all about filming connected moments and storytelling that has surprise and payoff. Whether we are shooting on location, in studio or on greenscreen we bring out authentic performances that draw the viewer in.

KN+SAW Katrine Naleid + Stephen Austin Welch bts behind the scenes collage 05

where we are:

Anywhere you need us to be! We are based on the west coast and shoot regularly in LA, SF, CHI, NYC (and anyplace in between.) We are also accustom to shooting abroad for both creative and budgetary reasons.

what gear we like:

We shoot with the best quality digital video cameras available in the industry. The Alexa Mini is our go-to camera and we love it for how it retains the subtlety & shape of our lighting. The RED cameras with the Dragon sensor give us flexibility and mobility while maintaining image integrity. The quality of the footage we are shooting is simply stunning and offers an uncompromised extension of ourselves. The Canon lineup of cinema cameras has been liberating on location. Both the C300 & 5D Mk3 in particular have been wonderful for being unassuming and helps us get intimate, tender-moment shots. Before the digital revolution, we shot with everything from Panavision & Arri 35mm cameras to art films on our Bolex!

KN+SAW Katrine Naleid + Stephen Austin Welch bts behind the scenes collage 04

where we came from:

Both of us have backgrounds growing up in wide-open-space before big-city-life. Katrine grown up in a small town in Idaho. In college she discovered her passion for photography while attending business school, and split her time equally between the darkroom and the local ski area. Stephen grew up in Collinsville, an Illinois suburb of St. Louis. He studied fine art photography and independent filmmaking at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and then went to attend film school at USC in LA.

what happened next:

After working in the industry for a couple years (Katrine in Salt Lake and Stephen in LA) we both migrated to San Francisco. We each worked our way up to the level of well-established advertising photographers.

how we became a directing duo:

KN+SAW have been collaborating on shoots for the past 10+ years. We started shooting personal projects together, with both motion imagery and still photography. That collaborative work rose to the top on our reels and in our portfolios. And just like that, a lightbulb went on in our heads: working together, we were stronger “visual storytellers.”

KN+SAW Katrine Naleid + Stephen Austin Welch bts behind the scenes collage 03

how soon is now:

Often, we are hired to direct spots and also shoot the corresponding print campaign. Other times, people just have a need for a tv commercial or still photography. We are open to all scenarios. Get in touch with us.

who’s talking about us:

Our work has been featured in these fine industry magazines: After Capture, Communication Arts, Digital Output, Photo District News, HOW and Print.

KN+SAW Katrine Naleid + Stephen Austin Welch bts behind the scenes collage 02

our client list includes:

24xHourxFitness Adaptec Adobe Always Ambien AmericanxBaby Apple AT&T BabyxBirdxCommunications BedxBathxandxBeyond Beringer BestxBuy BetterxHomesx&xGardens Brown-Forman BurgerxKing Campbell-Ewald Canonball CenturyTel Chrysler Clorox Coca-Cola ConsumerxReports Corona CranexMetaMarketing CrochetxToday CVSxPharmacy DDBsf DeliciousxLiving DGWB DiscoveryxChannel Disney DonerxAdvertising Draft DraftFCB Ducati Duracell eBay Eggo Elmer’s Exploratorium Familiar FamilyxFun FCB Fireman’sxFund FirstxForxWomen Fisher-Price FoodxArts FundxForxTeachers GeneralxMills GenomicxHealth GlitterhousexRecords GlobalxHue Goldieblox GoodxHousekeeping Grey Gymboree Hanes Health Healthtex HelloxHanna Hershey’s HiddenxValleyxRanch Hilton Huggies IntegerxGroup Intel Invisalign JohnxMuirxHealth Johnsonx&xJohnson JWT KaiserxPermanente Kellogg’s Kiplinger’s KiwixCrate KlutzxPress Kraft LaxLechexLeague LadiesxHomexJournal LeoxBurnett Levi’s Liverpool Logitech LosxAngelesxMagazine Macy’s MartinxAgency McCann Meredith Microsoft Milk Momentum Namco NBC/Universal Nestle Nickelodeon NorthwestxAirlines Oracle Osmo Palmolive Pampers Papyrus ParadexMagazine Parenting Pepsico PhonicxEar Pinesol PitchxAgency PNCxBank PorterxNovelli Proctorx&xGamble Psychologies Pull-Ups RandomxHouse Redbook ResearchxMeansxHope Ross RunningxPress Saatchix&xSaatchixX Safeway SantanaxRow SCxJohnson Scholastic Sega SetonxMedicalxCenter Shaklee Shape Shutterfly SpecialxK Splenda Sprout StagexStores Target TBWA\Chiat\Day Texaco Tony’sxPizza Townx&xCountry Trone TurnerxDuckworth Tylenol Ubisoft UCSFxMedicalxCenter UnitedxWay USPS Walmart WeldonxOwen WellsxFargo WinexSpectator WorkingxMother Wunderman Y&R Yahoo! YogaxJournal Zyrtec